Groundwork laid over a decade ago to include dehydrated potatoes in international food-aid programs is starting to be recognized by private voluntary organizations.
The work reached a high point July 2 at a meeting called by the United States Potato Board for charitable organizations in Washington, DC.
Touting the nutritional richness and low-cost shipping of potato flakes, the group which included the American Red Cross, Counterpart International, Save the Children, and Mercy Crop, came away impressed.
Several plan to make requests for dehy in their McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programs.
Nina Schlossman, president of Global Food and Nutrition Inc., the Board's partner in its International Food Assistance Initiative, said everyone remarked on the excellence of the food.
Executive Chef Bonnie Moore demonstrated several recipes based on dehydrated flakes, adapted to include nonfat dry milk (another food-aid commodity). These recipes were developed by PVO partner organizations. They are presently used in a variety of food-aid settings, including infant and maternal feeding, schools, hospitals, orphanages and eldercare facilities in Central Asia and Latin America.
Using dehydrated flakes alone or in combination with nonfat dry milk could be incorporated in a diverse range of foods with recipes that are nutritious, great tasting and easy-to-prepare.
Using just a one-burner tabletop stove, Chef Moore created mashed potatoes with carrots and spinach from Bolivia, potato and cheese croquettes from Tajikistan, and empanadas filled with black bean and cheese or spicy chicken from Nicaragua.